Dark Times
Dark Times is a mod for Star Wars Battlefront 2 and it was made by Maveritchell. This is something that the SWBF community has been looking forward to for a few months, and the wait was worth it. For those who haven't been following the development of this mod, it adds a "Dark Times" era to most (if not all) shipped maps. This era takes place between ROTS and ANH; the "dark times" as Obi-Wan recalls to Luke. But that's only the setting... the actual essence of this mod is the full-blown injection of The Force Unleashed into Battlefront's blood stream. What am I talking about, you ask? Well, in simpler terms, Mav has recreated some of the characters and Force powers from TFU for Battlefront and has given the game a whole new twist. But that barely even begins to describe the amount of content packed into this mod. Conquest: Conquest plays as it normally does, with the Empire and the newborn Rebel Alliance serving as the two opposing factions. However, it's been completely revamped with brand new units all across the board. Not a single one has been untouched, including the heroes. Some of the changes include new characters, new skins, new models, new weapons, new power-ups, new effects, and new Force powers. Each time you play a Conquest match you'll be given a randomly selected roster of special units and heroes, so it sort of feels like you're never playing with the same characters twice. Hero Assault: Like Conquest, Hero Assault features brand new Force powers such as Pummel, Crush, and Repulse, and new heroes such as Starkiller, Shaak Ti, and a Shadow Guard. In addition to that there are new attack styles and saber combos for each character. Each one has their own attack style in addition to their own unique combination of Force powers, so you may have to do a little experimenting to figure out which ones you like best. The new Force powers are fun, but take a bit of getting used to, especially if you aren't even sure what they do. I think my favorite new power is Force Pummel; there's nothing quite like playing as Yoda and hurling rocks at opponents from the Mos Eisley rooftops. Duel: Duel is essentially Hero Assault, only you don't have any Force powers. All you can use is your saber, so you'll have to rely on your saber combo skills and maneuvering to do well here. Space: As someone who doesn't normally enjoy space maps I found the four new space maps (Dantooine, Corellia, Raxus Prime, and Nar Shaddaa) included in the mod to be pretty fun. First of all they feature brand new ships like the TIE Vanguard and the BLT-B Y-Wing (as seen in the new Clone Wars series). Brand new ships are always fun to play around with, but even the old ships have had some readjustments to keep things interesting. Secondly, there are new units and weapons, most notably the nifty-looking Kel-Dor mercenary. And finally, Mav has cleverly distanced the capital ships in each map so that the battles are more geared towards dogfights. This is the way the space maps should have been, as opposed to dodging dozens of auto turrets and flying around in circles while bombing Spot A and Spot B of the enemy capital ship. Boring! If you want a real space battle experience, you'll find one here. Wave: Wave is obviously a new game mode specifically developed for this mod. If you've played any other war or military video games then you probably have an idea of what it is. You battle wave after wave of enemies (hence the name), surviving as long as you can (until you're killed) or until you achieve a goal. In this case, Mav has put together some objectives for you to accomplish in each individual map featuring wave mode. Much like Hunt, Wave mode is different for each map its featured in, meaning you play as different characters, fight different enemies, and have different objectives depending on which level you choose. On Felucia you play as Starkiller and battle Felucians and baby rancors. Yeah, baby rancors. On Hoth you're part of a team of mercenaries battling swarms of wampas while trying to repair your ship. Wave mode is fairly challenging, and requires you to use a bit of strategy rather than relying on your gaming skills. It can be frustrating... but addictive. Oh so very addictive. There's not much more that I can add to this review. The Dark Times is a great mod that brings a lot to the table for you to enjoy. It's thoroughly detailed and polished, and it pushes the limits of the game, as we have come to expect from Mav.